Trichinella spiralis infection in pigs in eastern Bolivia

Trichinellosis in pigs in Bolivia was first documented in 1993 following a small abattoir survey in a rural community in the Bolivian Altiplano. The present study investigated the presence of antibodies to Trichinella spiralis in pigs in the 2 largest departments in terms of pig production in Bolivia. Three geographically separate abattoir surveys were conducted to cover the major production areas in the Departments of Santa Cruz and Chuquisaca. Sera were tested using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Of the 1,327 sera analysed from the 3 areas, 13.4% overall tested positive. Results from the 3 individual surveys varied from 10.2% seropositivity to 17.1 per cent. However, within each of the 3 sample areas, highly significant variation in seropositivity was encountered, with those areas with the most extensive production systems having the highest percentage of positive sera. Such variation is probably due to differences in nutrition with foraging and household waste being important components of pig diets in extensive production systems. The results of this study were similar to those obtained from the previous survey in the Altiplano and indicate that trichinellosis is present throughout Bolivia and is a potentially important public health problem.